World

In the coming weeks, a government review of cyber security is due to land on the desk of US President Barack Obama.
“The president takes the issue of cyber security very seriously, which is why he ordered a top-to-bottom review shortly after taking office,” said White House spokesman Nick Shapiro.
He added that the White House was not aware of “any disruptions to the power grid caused by deliberate cyber-activity here in the United States”.
Mississippi Democratic Representative Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee, said he would introduce legislation to address weaknesses in the system.
“Our electric system is critical to our way of life, and we cannot afford to leave it vulnerable to attack. Our oversight indicates there is a significant gap in current regulation to effectively secure the infrastructure,” he said.
The North American Electric Reliability Corp, the industry group with responsibility for grid reliability and security, said it was unaware of any cyber-attacks that had led to disruptions of service.
“NERC and industry leaders are taking steps in the right direction to improve preparedness and response to potential cyber threats. There is definitely more to be done,” the group said in a statement.
“To date the number of people in the position to cause harm on SCADA has been thankfully relatively small,” Mr Kaminsky told the BBC.
“But however small, it is big enough to be a problem and a problem that can potentially turn the lights out and cause economic harm to our country. The game is up,” he said.